About metadata and XMP
Metadata is a set of standardized information about a photo, such as the author's name, resolution, color space, copyright, and keywords applied to it. For example, most digital cameras attach some basic information about a file, such as height, width, file format, and the time the image was taken. Lightroom also supports the information standard developed by the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) to identify transmitted text and images. This standard includes entries for descriptions, keywords, categories, credits, and origins. You can use metadata to streamline your workflow and organize your files.
File information is stored using the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) standard. XMP is built on XML. In the case of camera raw files that have a proprietary file format, XMP isn't written into the original files. To avoid file corruption, XMP metadata is stored in a separate file called a sidecar file. For all other file formats supported by Lightroom (JPEG, TIFF, PSD, and DNG), XMP metadata is written into the files in the location specified for that data. XMP facilitates the exchange of metadata between Adobe applications and across publishing workflows. For example, you can save metadata from one file as a template, and then import the metadata into other files.
Metadata that is stored in other formats, such as EXIF, IPTC (IIM), and TIFF, is synchronized and described with XMP so that it can be more easily viewed and managed.
Specify where to write metadata changes
Lightroom lets you specify where to write adjustments and settings metadata. The information can be written to XMP or to the catalog. Keep in mind that changes made in Lightroom are not automatically recognized by other applications, when metadata is written to the catalog.
- Choose File > Catalog Settings.
- Click the Metadata tab, and then do either of the following:
- To write adjustments and settings metadata to XMP, select Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.
- To write adjustments and settings metadata to the catalog, deselect Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.
If you don't write adjustments and settings metadata to XMP automatically, you can select a file and choose Metadata > Save Metadata To File.
Save metadata changes to the file manually
- Select one or more photos and choose Metadata > Save Metadata To File.
- In Grid view, click the down arrow icon
in a thumbnail image to save (update) the metadata in the file.
Note: If you're working with a DNG file, choose Metadata > Update DNG Metadata And Preview to save metadata changes to the file and also generate a preview based on the current raw processing settings.
Related Information
Synchronize metadata with Adobe Camera Raw and Bridge
Working with keywords
Learn more
